Transfer of frozen eggs from one facility to another (success and failure mentioned)

Welcome to Fertile Thoughts! We are in the process of making some site improvements. Anything you post to the forums during this period might not get saved. Please check back later and sorry for the inconvenience.

We are working to improve our forums. Please give us your feedback here!

Transfer of frozen eggs from one facility to another (success and failure mentioned)

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone has done any research into transferring your previously frozen eggs from one facility to another.

Brief background: My RE's clinic charges $1500 per year to store frozen eggs, which is the same amount that they charged me to store my (now gone) frozen embryos. I've done a little bit of research and there are a lot of places that seem to charge more in the range of $500 per year. Having recently gone through three failed cycles using my frozen embryos leftover from my one and only fresh cycle (and having that end with my RE saying that he thinks we might want to consider the surrogate route if we want to continue), I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I am at the end of my fertility journey, and I am happy with and blessed by what I have. But my husband is not as willing to give up the dream (and while I am 95% certain I'm done, there's still that 5%). I'd like to continue storing the eggs, at least for a little while. $500 per year is a lot easier to swallow than $1500. I found one place in CA that seems to accept transfers, but wondering how to find anything more local (I am in PA). Also wondering if there would be any issues with my RE if I ship the eggs away and then decide I want to come back. Has anyone looked into this?

Have you looked into storing them at a cryobank? It is likely much cheaper there since that is what they do. I do believe you could ship them back to your clinic if you choose to pursue them in the future. If you store them at another clinic, you may be expected to cycle there.

Good morning,
This is a great question. I do know it is very possible to transfer your eggs from facility to facility and I do not blame you for wanting to store someone less than $1500 a year. That seems very high to me. Even the top clinics in NYC are less than that. I know a few clinics in NYC that are $500 a year but not sure about PA. I am happy to contact RMAof Philly or Mainline in Philly as well.

Thanks BC-leahjane. Mainline is actually my clinic. I have been trying to get in touch with the financial coordinator to see if $1500 is really the price to store frozen eggs, or if that is just something that the billing office believes. This seems especially high since the fee to store my husband's sperm is only $300 per year. I think my next step once I confirm (assuming it is really that high) will be to call my RE directly and tell him that I'm going to move them unless they cut the fees, and see what he says. I believe this is all profit for them anyway, so he may be willing to work with me.

You are talking about freezing your eggs correct? Just making sure I didn't mis read and you said Embryo's. I believe after the first year (which is included) it is $600 a year. I am happy to double check and call for you.

Yes, eggs, not embryos. I had both eggs and embryos that were being stored but used my last frozen embryo in January, so now I only have eggs. They were charging me $1500 a year for the embryo storage and had never called out the egg storage as a separate fee. When I got the new bill (having used up my embies), I called and was told the fee was now for eggs, not embryos. Maybe the billing office just didn't know that the fees were different for the two. I tried calling the financial coordinator, but she was out on vacay, so I will follow up. Will let you know how it turns out, but $600 is definitely better than $1500!!

i totally understand your questions. look, freezing eggs is not a problem (this you did already).
also transferring them from one facility to another is OK (apart from financial issues...)
what is really tricky when it comes to eggs is THAWING.

eggs are HUGE and ice crystals/chemical rests can hurt them as they thaw
many of them are then not able to get fertilized or give viable embryos,
so what one really has to consider is the quality/expertize of the laboratory, embryologists working there etc.

BC-LeahJane, wanted to circle back on this. I found out that MLF actually charges $750 per year for storage (somehow I'd doubled in my mind what I paid last year). The $1500 was for the freezing and first year of storage, but it was and is $750 in subsequent years. Plus another $300 for sperm storage, of course...

DH thinks I should call and ask my doctor to lower the fees. My experience with them is that the financial office will give you the prices but does not actually have any authority over anything, only the doctors can make the financial decisions for the practice. So, I'm thinking about calling and talking to my doctor directly, but I hate asking for things like this. Yes, we live in a very affluent area, and yes I could afford to pay $750 if I really wanted to, but that doesn't mean I want to get ripped off. Between one IVF/fresh cycle and 3 FET cycles, plus freezing and storage fees, I definitely feel like I've contributed to the financial success of MLF!

NutMommy, You absolutely should give them a call and see what they can do for you. I mean unless they are using an outside storage facility for the eggs (which I don't believe is the case with Main Line). I know all of the docs there, Glassner, Orris, and Brasile, are SOOOOO sweet and very accommodating. Eileen, the research coordinator, is a DOLL. I know this post was a few months ago, so I hope you come back and update.

Also worth noting: Main Line Fertility now participates in our egg freezing savings program, EggBanxx. You can ask me or BC-leahjane for more information. We've negotiated lower costs on egg freezing cycles and storage, so if you are deciding to freeze your eggs again, you might want to check it out!

Posting Permissions

DISCLAIMER: Fertile Thoughts allows advertisers to publish information about their services. Fertile Thoughts does not provide medical advice or endorse any particular service or approach to treating infertility. We encourage people to learn as much as possible about the range of options available before committing to any one. We also encourage users to share their thoughts on all fertility options on our forums.